


The Other Rafael Barba

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Family, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 17:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5299778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The scream came from her lips before she could stop it.  It wasn’t an Elsa Lanchester scream but for a moment Liv thought she might faint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Rafael Barba

**Author's Note:**

> I read a Tumblr post someone posted similar to this plot and wrote the story almost immediately. It’s just a little cracky ficlet that made me laugh.

Liv walked into the office where Rafael was standing looking out the window on another cold, rainy night. She smiled, closing the door before going and wrapping her arms around him from behind.

“Mmm, it feels so good to hold onto you after a long day. You smell different, is this a new cologne? I like it.”

“Um…”

“I can't even tell you how I wanted to kill everyone today.” She kissed his back. “I even thought of calling Cragen in Florida and giving him a piece of my mind. What was I thinking, taking over an entire squad? There are days when I can't even think straight. And Dodds…ugh. Dodds is good, I think he's a great cop, but having to train a sergeant? It’s ridiculous.”

“I think you should…” he went to move her arms but she was locked on pretty tight.

“Why are you so tense, honey? I closed the door; no one is coming in. Tell me all about your day.”

“My day sucked.” He said. “Don’t even get me started.”

Liv laughed, turning him around and kissing his mouth. Carmen wasn’t outside, it was late, and little chance of them being disturbed. She stopped kissing him just as suddenly as she started, opening her eyes and looking at him.

“Something is…” she moved out of his arms and looked at him. Rafael looked the same. He didn’t quite feel the same and she realized he wasn’t dressed like himself. He was wearing all black, had more stubble than usual. Gone were the colorful ties and snappy suspenders. It was like mirrorverse Rafael. “Rafi…”

“I was trying to tell you that I'm not Rafael.”

“Hey.” Rafael walked into the room and looked at Olivia. “I didn’t know you were going to stop by. I tried to call you earlier.”

Olivia looked at Rafael and then she looked at the guy who had Rafael’s face. The scream came from her lips before she could stop it. It wasn’t an Elsa Lanchester scream but for a moment Liv thought she might faint.

“Liv?” Rafael walked over to her, concern etched all over his face.

“Who in the hell is that?” she pointed at not-Rafael.

“That’s why I was trying to call you earlier.” 

“Well I'm here now so tell me who he is!” her voice was frantic. Liv felt like she had walked through the ADA’s door and straight into the Twilight Zone.

“I'm Javier Barba.” He extended his hand. “Rafael’s twin brother.”

“I had no idea you had a twin.”

“Surprise.” Rafael smiled.

“I kissed him.” Liv wiped her mouth. “I kissed your twin that I had no idea existed.”

“It happens sometimes.” Javier smiled. “Though usually it was girls mistaking Rafi for me. It’s nice that after thirty years it could happen the other way around just once.”

“Oh ha, ha.” Rafael wasn’t amused. “Don’t ever kiss my girlfriend again.”

“It was an accident, bro. She thought I was you; she didn’t see my face. I was trying to tell her but I couldn’t get it out fast enough.”

“I just bet.” Rafael grumbled.

“I need to sit down.” Liv really felt faint and she walked over to one of the chairs in Rafael’s office and sat in it. “This day just got a whole lot weirder.”

“Rafael, I'm going to go. We should meet up later for a drink. There's a lot to catch up on.”

“Tonight isn't good for me.” Rafael shook his head. “How long are you going to be in town?”

“Just a few days. I'm heading off to Poland for some business and I could be in Europe a few months. Gonna see if I can get Mami to make me some real Cuban food before I go. Europeans have the blandest taste buds, I swear.”

The twins shared a hug, Javier said goodbye to Olivia, and then walked out of the office. Rafael crouched down in front of his girlfriend. She looked shocked and a little pale. He wanted to make sure she was alright.

“Do you want a glass of water or something?”

“How far was he going to let that go?” Liv asked. “If I hadn’t notice he was the wrong man…how far was he going to let that go?”

“Liv that’s my brother, he wouldn’t hurt you. I know it was a shock and I'm so sorry about that. He surprised me about an hour ago…I didn’t know he was in New York.”

“And how dare you not tell me that you have a twin!” she slapped him hard on the shoulder. “I would think that’s information I need to know. That’s definitely information I need to know, Rafael.”

“I was getting around to it.”

“He wasn’t at your grandmother’s funeral.” Liv said.

“He was working in Moscow. Mami wasn’t happy but her death was sudden and he couldn’t get away. He's probably in town to make it up to her now.”

Liv took a deep breath and tried to collect her thoughts. Rafael Barba had a twin. She barely got a good look at him, only knew he looked like Rafael but wasn’t him. He had more of a beard, his face was a little thinner. He wasn’t her man. One glimpse, one touch, and she knew. 

Well not one touch…she had been wrapped around him just moments before that kiss. How hadn’t she known? They didn’t even smell the same. Liv wanted to pull Barba close and inhale his scent. She didn’t want his brother’s smell, she wanted his.

“Are you alright?” Rafael put his hand over hers.

“Just for the record, letting your girlfriend know there is someone in this world who looks exactly like you is really important. I'm OK but that was too weird.”

“I don’t think we look exactly alike. The truth is we’re fraternal but most people do think we’re identical. If you look around the eyes you can see the difference right away, at least I think so. Of course I've been looking at him for my entire life.”

“I need a drink.” Liv mumbled, standing up from the chair. She actually needed a couple of drinks. “First I need a hug and a kiss.”

“C'mere mi amor.” Rafael kissed her lips and then wrapped his arms around her. Liv held on tight and didn’t want to let go. That was fine with him. He hadn’t intended on her meeting another member of his family so soon and he surely hadn’t expected these kinds of shenanigans. But shenanigans tended to follow Javier Barba wherever he went. The brothers didn’t see each other much for very good reasons. “I'm sorry about the shock.”

“I think I’ll be OK. I would rather go home and settle in though. It was a long day and I never saw the ending coming. Can we just go home and be with Noah?”

“Of course. Let me just get my things together and off we go. I want you to tell me all about your day.”

“Too late, I already told your brother. You can ask him about it.”

Rafael smirked, deciding not to put more case files in his briefcase. It had been a long day and he hadn’t expected his brother to show up. Going home with Liv, just relaxing, and maybe ending the night with some passionate lovemaking would be best. He would avoid his brother’s calls tonight and see if they could meet up tomorrow, or at least before he left the country again.

“I want to know how I missed the fact that you had a twin brother.” Liv said as they walked out of Rafael’s office together.

“Well, mami kept him in the basement mostly when company came over so…”

“That’s not funny.”

“No, it isn't, but it’s true.” Rafael pushed the elevator button. “It was like _The Man in the Iron Mask_. I'm the cuter Leonardo DiCaprio.”

“Rafael…” she tried and failed not to smile.

“I got you to smile.” He leaned to whisper in her ear. “Mission accomplished.”

“You always get me to smile.” Liv walked onto the elevator as the doors opened. 

“Despite the twin thing I'm content being your one and only, Olivia Benson.”

***


End file.
